The invention relates to a clothes washing machine, in particular a domestic clothes washing machine, provided with an improved type of tank for the recovery of liquid discharged from the washing tub.
The invention is described with reference to its application in a front loading clothes washing machine provided with a recovery tank disposed vertically on the back of the machine. The invention can advantageously also be applied to other types of clothes washing machines, involving top loading or with the tank disposed in another position within the machine.
Clothes washing machines are known that are provided with one or more tanks for containing liquid substances that are to be used in various phases of a washing program. Such machines are also provided with a further tank for recovery of liquid used during rinsing phases, in particular the last rinsing operation, to be used again in the washing phase in a subsequent washing program.
The advantages of machines of this type (which are described in detail in various previous patents, for example, European Patent Application No. 91104057 to the present applicants, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,199) are primarily due to the considerable saving which can be achieved in terms of drawing water from the water mains system. The water is used several times without any need for a further piece of equipment performing the function of a recovery tank, and the tank is installed in the vicinity of the clothes washing machine to which it is connected.
In the course of designing such machines, however, it has been observed that they have some disadvantages which are particular to the type of operating procedure involved and their architecture. In particular, the structure and hydraulic connection of a tank as described in the abovementioned state of the art can cause structural complications and malfunctions which would compromise the utility of such a tank.